Bradley Beal still believes he belongs on the All-Star team, but said he’s focused on other things as he addressed reporters last night, including Chase Hughes of NBC Sports. Beal seemed like a glaring omission when the All-Star reserves were announced Thursday. He’s tied for fifth in the league in scoring at 28.8 PPG and has the injury-plagued Wizards on the edge of the playoff race.
“It doesn’t make me or break me. It doesn’t define me as a player,” Beal said of the All-Star snub. “The one thing I won’t do is disrespect anybody that made it. Everybody that made it is deserving of it. I’m past it.”
He also expressed appreciation to all the analysts who have spoken up on his behalf since the rosters were revealed. Beal is the first player scoring more than 28 points per game to be left off the All-Star team since 1985.
“At the end of the day, I’m not about to sit here with this sad cloud over my head like why I should be in. All of my peers come up to me after every game and say it. Coaches say it,” Beal said. “I just wish we had this same mindset three or four years ago when I got snubbed and we had the fourth seed.”
There’s more Wizards news to pass along:
- During warmups before Saturday’s game, John Wall may have sent a message that he plans to return before the end of the season, writes Mike DePrisco of NBC Sports. In a video tweeted by Hoop District, Wall sinks a turnaround jumper over an assistant coach and tells a group of fans, “Don’t worry, y’all get to see this soon.” Wall has been making progress in his recovery from a ruptured left Achilles tendon.
- As the Wizards get healthier, some fill-ins are going lose playing time, but coach Scott Brooks said Saturday that he plans to keep Isaac Bonga in the rotation. The second-year swingman has started 29 games in his first season in Washington.
- Rui Hachimura wasn’t used last night, but the Wizards remain optimistic that he will return soon, tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. The rookie forward hasn’t played since suffering a groin injury December 16, and Brooks said he still has to shake off some rust.
To say that Beal has the Wizards on the edge of the playoff race looks like an overstatement to me. Washington is 4 games away from the extremely cheap 8th seed and has a much better record in the games without Beal (4-3, with wins against Miami, Denver and Boston).
If the Wizards were contenders then Beal might be an All Star.
Beal is a heck of an (offensive) player, but not one to lead a team. He would flourish in a similar role to that of Klay Thompson, Middleton or even Lou Williams. Unfortunately for the Wizards, Wall is not a franchise player either. So they are stuck with two very good (and expensive) players that will not take the team anywhere.
Wizards are basically the Blazers of the East.